After the unexpected success of his first album Cantalou in 2021, Thierry Larose will launch Friday Sprint!in which he confirms his gift for words, riffs and hectic, free pop. Stressful to come back when you’ve made such a good first impression?
“A little, but not really. Looks like I was more stressed when the first one started walking. I was like: oh, maybe there are going to be expectations after all! But there it is. »
There is bossa nova playing at Thierry Larose when he welcomes us to his Montreal apartment. The musician likes to cast a wide net, you can feel it in this album which combines influences – from rock to song via samba –, opens with a seven-minute song-river, includes two versions of the same song and is enlivened by cheerful choirs and keyboards of all kinds.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
The influences of Thierry Larose are multiple.
“I don’t like concept albums. The ones I prefer, like the White Album, are chaotic. I have that in me a little. The 25-year-old singer-songwriter doesn’t like shackles very much, “gives little importance to the musical genre in general” and prefers to follow the inspiration of the moment.
The song arrives written with meticulousness and precision, but in the studio we go crazy! The contrast between the spontaneous arrangements, limit eighth notes, and the tune prepared with quarter turn, I find that fun.
Thierry Larose
And the wires that protrude, it is precisely what gives life to the music. “There’s a lot of music today that’s placed down to the tiniest second. I don’t necessarily want to do that. Often, our best takes were the first ones, when we were the loosest. »
Result: an album that exudes pleasure and lightness, created with Alexandre Martel on the production and the musicians Sam Beaulé, Lou-Adriane Cassidy and Charles-Antoine Olivier. “The chemistry is heard. I really like my band, it’s like playing with four artists. »
The album was recorded in several studios, according to the tour schedules of each, often with the instruments that were on site. “We looked on a map and we converged there! “It is not called Sprint! for nothing, and we feel this urgency in this album that we could qualify as “spirited”.
“Cool, I like that, fiery music! “, answers the one who drinks so much from the Beatles and Burt Bacharach for their strengths of melodists and Sylvain Lelièvre and Beau Dommage for their conciseness and their narrative talent. “I prefer Beau Dommage to Harmonium, I have chosen my side! It’s very queb, that, being told stories in songs. There are a lot of them on this album. Before, I had less this idea of beginning, middle and end. »
progress
When Thierry Larose took his first steps at Les Francouvertes in 2019, he had only a very short stage experience behind him. Four years later, “it’s day and night”, he says himself. His progress has indeed been dazzling, with, among other things, the release of a remarkable first album, accompanying Lou-Adriane Cassidy on tour as a guitarist, winning the Félix-Leclerc prize, filling Club Soda all by himself, and soon going to give shows in France.
A whole journey, which allowed him to learn at very high speed this profession which meets all his expectations… and even beyond.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Thierry Larose makes catchy pop music.
“At first it’s like a dream, but I’m starting to understand why my friends who have been doing this for a long time call it a job. I don’t realize how much fun it is, but I worked hard to be where I am. And it’s taken me to places I never thought I’d go. »
Until the Francos last summer, for example, in a memorable show with Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Ariane Roy… and Gilles Valiquette on the encore!
We never plan that. It’s crazy, I was making music in my room. And then it unraveled…
Thierry Larose
He is convinced, all this experience makes him a better singer, author, guitarist, performer. “I sing better because I enjoy it. Before, the interpretation, I found that it was not important. It was just the composition that counted, I didn’t understand that what is magic is what comes after! I had an epiphany, you have to believe. »
Through 10 sensitive and dazzling pieces, Sprint! is a pop album with catchy melodies that captures the spirit of the times and speaks of “being 25 today in Montreal”, but in which the singer also reveals himself “just a little”.
“I hid less, I wanted to be a little more direct”, explains the songwriter, who hopes that people will appropriate this new album as they did with Cantalou. But projecting oneself, say, four years from now? Impossible.
“I don’t have that ability, it short-circuits in my brain every time. I don’t have a bucket list: I just love music, I don’t have a hobby, I don’t do anything else. But I like where I am. I think it’s a good record. I hope. »
indie-pop
Sprint!
Thierry Larose
Bravo Music